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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The water is too ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — an illness
  6. spell — letters
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bound — certain
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. rush — hurry
  15. bulb — for light
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. spell — magic
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bound — obliged
  21. mine — for digging
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. spell — a short time
  24. cold — not warm

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com